Home Business Reviews Exposed!

After reviewing thousands of home business reviews I’ve been stunned by how many of the reviews recommend extremely questionable products. In fact, some of the home business reviews recommend outright scams!

Many of the reviewers don’t even know anything about the home based opportunities they’re recommending. I think they just read the sales page and try to make up a home business review off of that – sort of like cheating on a really important test.

So what should you do when you are reading through some of the reviews of home based opportunities?

Here are a few red-flags and warning signs to look out for when reading home business reviews

Red-flag/Warning #1: The home based income opportunity that is recommended is owned by the person reviewing the opportunity – but the reviewer doesn’t TELL you that.

I have no problem with a reviewer recommending his or her own home business income opportunity – as long as they tell you that they are the owner/creator of that home business income opportunity.

Some typical elements for Red-flag/Warning #1 are shown in the diagram below:

Fake Home Business Reviews

The easy red-flags for almost anyone to spot fake home business reviews are the following:

Fake Home Business Review Award Site (I’ve NEVER seen a real one of these)

Fake Seals Of Approval (Often will say something like “Certified Scam-Free” or will be made to sound like a legitimate seal of approval (i.e., “Consumer Reporting Agency” instead of “Consumer Reports”

A request for donations (this is done to make you believe the site is a non-profit site)

All of the products recommended in the home business review are owned by the reviewer (this red-flag is not as easy to spot for most people as the other 3 – if you aren’t sure about an opportunity feel free to contact me and ask me about it)

How to determine if a home business reviewer might own the websites being reviewed

I don’t expect you to do the following type of analysis (you can contact me and ask me to look into something) – however, I think it may be helpful for you to know that I actually dig for EVIDENCE before I say that I find an opportunity to be questionable.

There are many different ways to determine if sites are possibly owned by the same person or company. I go over one of the ways below:

Websites are hosted on what are called “I.P.”s – normally if you find a small number of sites (typically around 30 or so) on the same I.P. address they will usually be owned by the same person. There are exceptions to that rule of thumb as you’ll see below:

Home Business Reviews EXPOSED - sites hosted on same I.P.

Home Business Reviews EXPOSED - sites hosted on same I.P.

Below is a video of home business reviews at a site called TheWorkAtHomeReview.org followed by an “IP-Lookup” of sites hosted on the same IP as TheWorkAtHomeReview.org

In the above video of one of the home business reviews called TheWorkAtHomeReview.org is hosted on I.P. 67.212.182.186 and recommends the following:

It suggests Instant Profit Package as the best home based business opportunity.

It suggests Home Cash Course as the #2 home business income opportunity

It suggests Survey-Broker as the #3 home business idea

In the video you’ll see that all of those are hosted on the same I.P. address:

www.InstantProfitPackage is hosted on I.P. 67.212.182.186

www.HomeCashCourse is hosted on I.P. 67.212.182.186

www.Survey-Broker is hosted on I.P. 67.212.182.186

Because the following sites are also hosted on I.P. 67.212.182.186 I would suggest approaching them with caution:

www.24-7-trading

www.Adwordprofitkit

www.Best-10-work-from-home

www.Fastauctionincome

www.Free-site-offer

www.Get-merchant-account

www.Get-web-visitors

www.Globalmediaultd

www.Googlemoneypro

www.Googlesuccesscenter

www.Googlkit

www.Grantconnectioncenter

www.Homecashcourse

www.Homejobdailynews

www.Idptcr

www.Instant-online-income

www.Instantprofitpackage

www.Internet-career-finder

www.Jeffjacksonmyprofitsite

www.M0nstertrax

www.Media-hub

www.Monstermarketing

www.Myp-site

www.Myprofitsite

www.Myprofitsitescam

www.Mypsit

www.News21today

www.Nitricoxidemax

www.Powermaxacai

www.Ripoff-review

www.Ripoff-review

www.Ripoffs-exposed

www.Scam-hotline

www.Survey-broker

www.Survey-income

www.Surveyincomeplus

www.Svyclb

www.Theinternetsuccesscenter

www.Theworkathomereview

www.Top-10-work-from-home

www.Tradingfromhome

www.Webprofitclub

www.Yourworkathometop10

Red Flag Warning #2: The home based income opportunity that is promoted by a fake news site or advertorial-style site.

Although these sites aren’t technically home business reviews often the nature of their content could be thought to be misleading:

Normally an Advertorial style web page begins by placing the word Advertorial directly at the top of the page. However, at this time News7Daily puts it’s disclaimer at the BOTTOM of the page AFTER the reader has scrolled past EIGHT (8) order links (2 of the links are located on images).

Red Flag Warning #3: Calling something a “Scam” without producing any evidence at all to prove it.

When you read through the warnings at Work At Home Truth you’ll notice that I produce a lot of technical EVIDENCE to show why I believe a particular work at home business opportunity should be approached with caution. You can see that in this analysis of home business reviews as well.

You’ll also find that I rarely call something a scam, because a home business income opportunity must meet certain legal definitions to accurately be called a scam.

Red Flag Warning #4: Using stock photos as the picture of the reviewer

I understand why a person my not want his or her photo on the web – who knows what certain people will do with it?

But at this time it’s been my experience that home business reviews that use stock photos as the picture of the reviewer are often questionable review sites.

I currently don’t have an example of this handy, but will post one when I come across one.

Hopefully this information will allow you to view home business reviews through sharper eyes.

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Comments

I would like to know about this Elizabeth Jackson top work at home consultant web site it say you can work from your home making 98,500 a year. It’s a auction listing work at listing on e-bay the web is http://www.workathomepositionplacement.com

The company behind WorkAtHomePositionPlacement has a VERY bad reputation and is responsible for many of the warnings I’ve put out at WorkAtHomeTruth.

The GIGANTIC red flag with that opportunity is that they are using a REAL video from NBC News and then SPLICING it with their own video to make it look as if the two are associated.

I guarantee you that WorkAtHomePositionPlacement was NEVER seen on NBC, USAToday, CNN, or ABC – UNLESS they BOUGHT advertising on those channels or if those channels did a report WARNING people to AVOID WorkAtHomePositionPlacement.

You’ll see in the disclaimer way at the bottom of the page in very light grey the following text:
“**AFFILIATION/BRANDS – Work At Home Position Placement is not affiliated with, endorsed by or in any way associated with Apple, Coleman, Adidas, Compaq, The New York Times, Esquire, America Online, CNN, USA Today, Forbes, Yahoo. Work At Home Position Placement does not have the express permission of Apple, Coleman, Adidas, Compaq, The New York Times, Esquire, America Online, CNN, USA Today, Forbes, or Yahoo logo. ”

As I predicted in the 183+ websites to avoid write-up, now that many sites are being busted for using fake photos for testimonials, they are trying to get around it by using wording such as the following:

“Stock photos were used for testimonial images. Note: nowadays you will see many sites claiming that “Stock Photos” and fake testimonial names are used to protect the testimonial givers privacy. While this may be true at times, the use of stock photos and fake names should still be construed as a red flag to be combined with other red flags when doing your due diligence.”

While I can see WHY a company or person MIGHT truly do this – to date I have seen NO legitimate opportunity that uses this disclaimer.

Also, at least one other site related to the Automated Wealth System (one of their other sites) there were reports of people trying to cancel and then getting asked what “they’re credit card limits are” (which is PROBABLY related to a questionable sales practice for trying to sell people additional information based on how much money they still have available – although salespeople who are SLICK at doing that can get that out of you without you ever knowing it’s going on).

So do u have a list of 5,10, or 12 companies that aren’t scam’s or ask for 50 dollar’s to get started………im looking for something legit that I can do from home while my kid is at school starting this fall…….im wanting to get started now…………….have u tried or tested any of the companies or product’s? which would u recommend?????? You can email me at ([email protected]) thanks .

1) The McAfee SiteAdvisor means NOTHING as far as the product is concerned. It only tests to see if there are potential problems with the site such as viruses, trojans, etc.

2) KeyJobsOnline is NOT “the ORIGINAL CREATORS of The Work At Home SourceBook”. In fact, they STOLE the name of the book AND stole the image for the book from a woman named Lynie Arden WITHOUT her permission.

If on the other hand you are asking about JOBS, then I would recommend that you always follow the RULES here:Rules for searching home jobs as it’s MUCH better to know how to STAY safe than to have a “list” of opportunities that are safe (more later).

However, I strongly encourage people to have at least SOME form of extra income outside their regular job.

Now, back to your original question, Traci, there are places to look for jobs that are safer than others. Here’s what I told someone else:

Always watch out for easy home jobs with high pay – The problem with some of the easier types of work isthat mostly it is outsourced to countries like the Phillipines andIndia where people are willing to work for $1 to $2 per hour or even less.

As Always Paul, may you continue to be blessed abundantly for the great work you do for the people who are diligently seeking home based business, and I believe they are many especially in the current economic climate.

Surprised about Keyonline, as you recommend them on a previous e-mail.

I had a problem regarding Explosive Cash Secrets. I signed up and paid for info $9.95 in last of May. Never received info and had a problem with Web$avings4U mixup with another person signup. Upon obtaining a bank transaction history yesterday, noticed a charge of $19.95. The bank gave me a phone number which I called and talked the owner three different numbers for getting in touch with his secretary. Secretary told me there was a 30 day limit of money back. I canceled the account per the bank recommendation but still out the $19.95 which was charged on June 28, 2010 (within a 30day period).

I can’t quite understand the rest of what you’re saying. Are you saying there was some product you bought with a 30 day refund period and you tried to get a refund after 30 days and they didn’t give you a refund?

I don’t know those other two products either. It sounds like you need to check the terms of their offer.

I read the entire site about the Home Employment Agency. It sounds to good to be true, where you list items on ebay for companies as a acutioner. The site states that this site has gotten lots of attention from the news channels such as CNN, USA Today, US Online and some others. This was published by the Sunshine Tribute Job News. The cost to become an auctioner is $49.95 + $9.95 shiping and handling. I wanted to know if this work from home company is legit before I talk myself into investing into this.

What about HBB, Home Based Business? They advertise a 14-day free trial of their kit and you pay only the $9.95 shipping fee. There is no hint as to what you actually do in this “business” to make money – so I’m skeptical.

Paul,
Hi, I was interested to find out if you know about Mypushbuttonprofits.com by Jack Henderson? I have been getting emails to buy this and wanted to see what you many say for this site?
Thanks!
Julie

I don’t know the product specifically, but just reading the sales page there is just about every red-flag in the book jumping out at me:

1) Fake scarcity (only 200 left), yet the product is getting a significant amount of traffic – the two don’t match up.
2) Stock images used for testimonial pictures – the site uses a tiny hard-to-see disclaimer at the bottom saying they have provided the images for the testimonials in place of the real testimonials (which more often than not simply means a company made up the testimonials),
3) Possible use of the “phantom fixation” fraud persuasion technique (which is a technique in which you leave out vital information about how likely a result is – or you make it seem more likely than it possibly is) – specifically in this case they mention Daniel H. Morley achieved Top-Elite status, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he achieved that status using My Push Button Products. In other words they want readers to “fixate” on the fact that Daniel H. Morley achieved Top-Elite status and believe by buying MyPushButtonProfits they can do the same – when in fact it’s not clear at all how he actually ACHIEVED that status.

Phantom fixation is covered in my recent write up of Common Persuasion Tactics In Fraud in which I summarized and added some additional details about the results of the Undercover Audiotapes Project which consisted of analysis of 300 undercover fraud tapes completed by AARP and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation in 2006 which identified the most common persuasion tactics used by con men by scam type.

4) Use of a fake newspaper story created with a fake newspaper image generator. There’s a technical way to identify a fake like this by using what’s called the hamming distance of an object. I have an example of identifying a fake newspaper in in this write-up and warning about of a Nick Mark’s product.

5) Site is registered to a person who has other products in the marketplace using completely made up stories as well as fake testimonials, including the notorious Rich Janitor site here

I do put opportunities in the WorkAtHomeTruth store, but if you don’t like the idea of a site having a store then you can always use the information you find here to help you do your own due diligence.

You can also ask about specific opportunities you have questions about in the forum that was recently set up, although the forum isn’t very active as of yet.

Thanks for pointing that out. I just replied to her above, but I’ll repeat the same thing here:

HBB is lead generation for OTHER home business companies – usually MLM companies. What they typically do is sell your information as leads to the other companies.

So there’s no way to really know which company your information is going to end up at.

It’s pretty much a “going in blind” type of deal for you and could end up wasting an ENORMOUS amount of your time.HBB is lead generation for OTHER home business companies – usually MLM companies. What they typically do is sell your information as leads to the other companies.

So there’s no way to really know which company your information is going to end up at.

It’s pretty much a “going in blind” type of deal for you and could end up wasting an ENORMOUS amount of your time.

paul,
I am interested in home business opportunities and have been looking into a few.I came across your website and joined to receive your newsletter.my question is, do you know of any scams involving homecashsolutions.com?

I’m not aware of any scams involving homecashsolutions – however, the person behind that is more focused on MLM/Network Marketing which I don’t really analyze that much here. You may want to ask that same question at MLMHelpDesk

I got this webstite for a pretty reliable source, I think and have read through it. the person they are using as an interviewed success leaves only about 20 miles from me but can’t find a phone number from her as of yet to “check it out” for real. Is this a reliable work from home source. Money wise and guanantee 365 days doesn’t sound bad, however I have been wrong a couple of times. thanks\
Aletha

Sounds like it’s not really a great program if you’re looking for a ‘step-by-step’ type of guide to making money online – at least that’s what I’m taking away from that particular review.

They do a good job of going through the products. And even better they’ll give you a heads up about all of the upsells, downsells, etc. and also give you the straight scoop about whether or not something is a “real bonus” (as you can see in that review).

You can explain your background & what you’re looking for and they should be able to tell you if it makes sense for you.

I should mention to you that Don & Jeremy push the envelope on some of their own products – meaning they sometimes use some fairly aggressive marketing techniques that some people might not be comfortable with…however, that said, they are aware of that and do a great job explaining stuff like that and also historically have provided excellent customer support and help for their customers.

Just saw a posting on careerbuilder for a bonavitas.com… Looks to actually have a product involved and I didn’t seem to be giving anyone else a commission as I was steered straight to their site… Know anything about this one? Also noticed as I was trying to research this, I came across something that was FREE never charge a cent etc, but had what seemed to be referral links to 3 sites that were super legit…. Amazing to me.

I too am looking into Advertising Consultants. I am interested in being one of thier Franchisees. They want $25,000 up front, and claim NO additional payments or royalties. Just sell thier services. They claim to have gotten these services in BULK for a whole sale price, then they add their mark up…the franchisee adds his mark up, and that is where both sides make their revenue. I too am questioning their legitimacy. Any insight? Any thoughts?

I to have been looking into http://www.advertisingconsultants.com When I looked up the address on their site it is the same as a business called, intelligentoffice.com which is provides virtual office space to clients: 9435 Waterstone Boulevard, Suite 140, Cincinnati, OH 45249

The funny thing is they have a little crappy picture of their “Headquarters” on the site as if to say they are a really big company, but it is actually a virtual office that they are renting?

Also now they are offer a reduced buy in of $12.5k if you do all of the training remotely or you can invest $25k and have 2 days of training at their headquarters.

I am not really sure what this all means yet and sure would love to hear what you all think.

Have anyone heared of Scott Prier Financial Group? It claims to be a home based business that you receive payments from investors then transfer that money to the home or regional office? Not sure if this is legit?

That sounds EXACTLY like a money mule scam. In fact, did a search constrained to the dates between Mar 1, 2001–Feb 1, 2011 for “Scott Prier Financial Group” and they don’t show up anywhere which is a HUGE red flag.

I am researching legit work at home ops. I would like to know if Survey Revenue system has any merit. I also am looking at Grassroots Research to become a mystery shopper for them. I have read the reviews on both of these companies and they appear to be good. I can’t locate the Survey website but the other web site is http://www.grassroots.uk.com

Okay, so if your site is a legit fraud exposure site, what do you say about the fact that the link you’re promoting links to this typical high-pressure sales site for making money online, which is hosted on your IP? DNSstuff.com identifies IPs 69.167.128.0 – 69.167.191.255 as belonging to Liquid Web, Inc. — that includes both your site’s IP (69.167.182.137) and the IP of the sales page (69.167.164.193). Stinks, to me.

First, I helped Michael move his site because it got hacked and he’s not technical – so I worked with one of my programmers around the clock to get it restored. Then I told Michael he needed to move to the same host as me since I know Liquid Web’s security is excellent.

Secondly, being hosted within the same IP range usually isn’t sufficient to make a serious connection. For example, the rule of thumb when looking into identity theft rings is 30 or less sites on the SAME IP, although there are some exceptions. I’m working on documenting a huge identity theft ring right now (and having a few special research programs written). You can see a VERY SMALL part of the research here:Credit Card Theft Using Fake Payment Page Of Stolen Home Business Sales Pages

I’m needing to have special tools developed to research this one as they are up to thousands of sites by now (as opposed to the hundred or so I list on that page).

Also, The ENTIRE point of this post had to do with sites that do NOT reveal financial interest in products they promote.

I’m not hiding the fact that I’m an affiliate for that site or having any financial interest in it. That’s why it says WorkAtHomeTruth Store right at the top of the video pages where those links are from. It clearly tells you that you’re in a STORE which MEANS WorkAtHomeTruth has a financial interest in the products.

It’s also why I put up this page:Real Money Making Ideas which links to all kinds of places that are NOT my site and have that I have no connection to other than that I really trust their opinions.

It’s nice to at least see somebody do a little digging though. You may want to look around the site and found out just how many people I’ve helped recover money for WITHOUT charging them anything – not to mention the documentation I’ve provided (at their request) for the FTC & the Secret Service. You might want to take a look at the front page of the site here:http://www.workathometruth.com

I’ve been trying to get people to copy that page to their own sites and require NO attribution or link back to my site which is why I put the following text at the top of that page page:

“IF you run a site where you believe any information in this post may be helpful to your visitors, clients, family, friends, feel free to copy everything verbatim or make any changes you feel necessary. NO attribution or linkbacks are expected or required. This is only ONE facet of how to disrupt fraud distribution channels, but it is an important one.”

I use HUNDREDS of tools, some that I’ve created for MYSELF only to reverse engineer the more sophisticated criminal rings. You can take a look at them either here:Competitive Intelligence Tools

I was wondering whether homejobs2u.co.uk is genuine. The problem I have is that they ask for your bank details when you register. I’m rather dubious as to give them my bank details before I even meet with anyone. Does anyone have any experience with this as a typing job at home would be great for me if it is genuine.

Anne, I haven’t had time to look into those. There’s a user reviews section where people have left comments on different types of training, but nobody’s left comments about those yet. Also, some comments are obvious shills.

However, one comment a person left was about a site called “Internet Income Academy” and I started looking at it, and so far I like what I’m seeing. You can see some basic details about it here:Internet Income Academy”>Internet Income Academy. You’ll see a comment by “Jess L.” there and you can respond to his comment to see if he can provide more details for you.

Hi I am a firm believer in the idea ‘if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn’t’ Do you know anything about Diana Thompson and the Home Cash System? They teach you to post links for companies at $15 ea and it sounded like there may even be a charge for subscribing monthly It supposedly takes 2-4 minute for each link, so you can make lots in a short time. They are asking for $100 to get the training ( they say you can be ignorant when it comes to computers) and the company names to use and also insist it is guaranteed – I have my doubts there too. I can’t afford even that if it doesn’t pay the same day or next as she claims. Thanks for any info you give me.
Sincerely, Michelle

I have serious concerns about Online Income Solution, primarily having to do with their using of “Coaching Programs”. You can read my write up along with hundreds of comments about the program here:Online Income Solution Review Of Red Flags

I hear about incomeathome on the radio stations I listen to. When I accessed their website – like all other work from home sites…they tell you NOTHING about program but want you to pay 9.95 for a “kit”. Do you know anything about this company? Are they legit?

I would like to recommend the Success with Anthony program for anyone wishing to start an online income as it offers some really good advice and shows you exactly the methods that Anthony is using to generate his income. It has ben put together very professionally and is very clear. He also offers one on one training too. Anthony has inspired me to create my site [spam link removed] which I am very thankful for.

Hi TIFFANI- I would stay away from Herbalife. I tried it and after feeling like someone else was controlling you, and it supposed to be YOUR business, I jumped ship.. and they expect you to eat, sleep and drink it.. plus selling the product..

Trying to figure out if Amanda Burns website for creation of links as a work from home money opportunity is legitimate, as some of the red flags seem to exist. I didn’t see this site on the warning list, but perhaps I missed something. The site is: http://www.eonlinemarketingsystem.com/

Trying to evaulate above franchise business; details are sketchy. Run by Brian and Rhonda Swan; attached to LIFEPATHUNLIMITED.COM, SWANFRANCHISE.COM and a so-called “mirror images system.” Unk products, service or information being offered. Some form of internet business; distributing “products and services through retail outlets by independents …” [who purchase franchise package].

Hi Paul;
Have you seen any info on how to make money with Pinterest? This seems to be so ething new and I just received an e-mail from a Lauren- e-mail address is [email protected]@bouncedaffiliates.com= looks like the website might be mybinaryrecoded.com?

How about ezy Home Business? It sounds really good, but to start with them you have to invest $4000 in their course.
I am not sure weather should I trust them or not?http://www.easyhomebusiness.com.au/‎

Mittal, I’ve never heard of them. I did a bit of research and that seems ridiculously expensive, especially when you compare it to similar courses. I take it their specialty is eBay. Of note is that Amazon is where most people start to search for product information and products these days. They have a service called Fulfillment by Amazon which has become very popular. I’d suggest you take a look at some of the courses by Jim Cockrum. MUCH cheaper and he knows what he’s talking about.